Crews are working to fix an electrical system at the Washington Monument more than a week after it was struck by lightning in a storm.

       The National Park Service had said it was waiting on a part for the electrical system for several days. On Wednesday, Park Service officials said the part has arrived and that crews were working to fix the broken system. Once the part is installed, officials said, tests will be run on the system, and then the monument can reopen.

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       Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the Park Service, said crews would “start the installation and programming” on Thursday. He said he didn’t know what day the monument would reopen to visitors.

       Lightning struck the monument on Aug. 15. No one was hurt.

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       The lightning damaged the electronic access system that operates the doors and elevator at the popular tourist site. The system also allows key cards to work for staff members so they can enter the building and access calls and send the elevator, Litterst said.

       How often does lightning strike the Washington Monument?

       According to the Capital Weather Gang, it was at least the second time the Washington Monument has been struck by lightning this year. On June 14, a bolt hit the tip of the monument and was photographed by Kevin Ambrose. In June 2020, a photographer in Arlington captured a lightning bolt hitting the monument.

       What made this latest incident different is that it was the “first time we’ve had any issue with the electronics getting scrambled,” Litterst said last week.